Space advocacy organization
British Interplanetary Society
|
|
Abbreviation
| BIS
|
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Formation
| 1933
|
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Legal status
| Non-profit organisation
|
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Purpose
| UK space advocacy, promotion of astronautics research
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Location
| - 27/29 South Lambeth Road,
Vauxhall
, London, SW8 1SZ
|
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Region served
| UK
|
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Membership
| Anyone with an interest in space
|
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President
| Alistair Scott
|
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Affiliations
| International Astronautical Federation
|
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Website
| bis-space.com
|
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The
British Interplanetary Society
(
BIS
), founded in
Liverpool
in 1933 by Philip E. Cleator,
[1]
is the oldest existing
space advocacy
organisation in the world. Its aim is exclusively to support and promote
astronautics
and
space exploration
.
Structure
[
edit
]
It is a
non-profit organisation
with headquarters in
London
and is financed by members' contributions.
It is situated on South Lambeth Road (
A203
) near
Vauxhall station
.
History
[
edit
]
The BIS was only preceded in astronautics by the
American Interplanetary Society
(founded 1930), the German
VfR
(founded 1927), and Soviet
Society for Studies of Interplanetary Travel
(founded 1924), but unlike those it never became absorbed into a national industry. Thus it is now the world's oldest existing space advocacy body.
[2]
When originally formed in October 1933, the BIS aimed not only to promote and raise the public profile of astronautics, but also to undertake practical experimentation into rocketry along similar lines to the organisations above. However, early in 1936 the Society discovered that this ambition was thwarted by the
Explosives Act of 1875
, which prevented any private testing of
liquid-fuel rockets
in the United Kingdom.
Proposals for design of space vehicles
[
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]
In the late 1930s, the group devised a project of landing people on the
Moon
by a
multistage rocket
, each stage of which would have many narrow
solid-fuel rockets
. Their lander was
gumdrop
-shaped but otherwise quite like the
Lunar Module
. As it was considered that the cabin would have to rotate, BIS member Ralph A. Smith, who helped re-establish the society post-WW2, invented the first instrument for
space travel
: the Coelostat, a
navigation
mechanism that would ingeniously cancel out the rotating view. R.A. Smith and Harry Ross were the aerospace visionaries named on the original patent. Smith also authored and illustrated the 1947 book 'The Exploration of the Moon' showing the first ever conceptual 'orbital satellite' (text by Arthur C. Clarke), which is said to have inspired both
John F. Kennedy
and
Stanley Kubrick
.
[3]
In a November 1949 conference in the BIS, Harry Ross presented a paper on a concept of a Lunar spacesuit. In the paper, Ross had examined the problem of a 68 kg lunar space suit which could be worn for up to 12 hours, within the temperature range of +120°C to -150°C.
[4]
In 1946, the BIS started a programme known as
Megaroc
. The purpose of the programme was to develop a
Sub-orbital spaceflight
that could provide crewed ascents to a maximum of 1 million feet (304 km). The craft was made by enlarging and re-designing a
V-2 rocket
after it was noted by H.E. Ross in 1946 that the V-2 rocket was "nearly big enough to carry a man." The project was noted to be 10 years ahead of its time by NASA engineers who reviewed it. The same NASA engineers predicted the rocket would have been capable of first achieving a crewed suborbital flight between 1949 and 1951, and capable of sending people to space reliably by 1951.
[5]
[6]
Role in international space
[
edit
]
During the second
International Astronautical Congress
, held in London in 1951, the BIS was one of 13 national space societies who together founded the
International Astronautical Federation
. The other founding members no longer exist as national societies, leaving only the BIS.
[7]
[8]
Nearest stars
[
edit
]
In 1978, the Society published a
starship
study called
Project Daedalus
, which was a detailed feasibility study for a simple uncrewed interstellar flyby mission to
Barnard's Star
using present-day technology and a reasonable extrapolation of near-future capabilities. Daedalus was to have used a pellet driven nuclear-pulse
fusion rocket
to accelerate to 12 per cent of the
speed of light
.
Mars
[
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]
The latest in this series of far-reaching studies produced the
Project Boreas
report, which designed a crewed station for the Martian North Pole. The report was short-listed for the 2007
Sir Arthur Clarke Awards
in the category of Best Written Presentation.
Publications
[
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]
The BIS publishes the academic journal
Journal of the British Interplanetary Society
and the monthly magazine
Spaceflight
. In 2008, the BIS published
Interplanetary
, a history of the society to date.
[9]
Awards given by the society
[
edit
]
The science and science fiction writer Sir
Arthur C. Clarke
was a well-known former Chairman of the British Interplanetary Society. The society was presented with the first Special Award, from the 2005
Sir Arthur Clarke Awards
. This was a gift of Clarke's choice, independent of the judging panel. In 2008 the Society's magazine,
Spaceflight
, edited by Clive Simpson, was the winner of the award for Best Space Reporting.
Charles Chilton
joined the society before writing and producing the science-fiction radio trilogy
Journey Into Space
.
[10]
The
Sir Patrick Moore Medal
was made possible by long-time Fellow of the BIS, Sir
Patrick Moore
, to recognise outstanding contributions to the Society.
The
British Interplanetary Society UK-Born Astronaut Silver Pin Award
was introduced in 2009, this BIS silver pin award recognises the achievement of UK-born individuals who have undertaken a spaceflight into full Earth orbit.
The
Rising Star Awards
were founded in 2021 by BIS Fellows, Vix Southgate and Alan Bond and run by the BIS NextGen Network. In 2021, the RSA awards celebrated 'Women in Space', to coincided with the World Space Week theme of the same year. The five winners were presented with BIS Silver Comet Brooches and certificates.
Responsibilities
[
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]
The British Interplanetary Society, collaborates and coordinates at a national and international level to promote space and astronautics.
Arms
[
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]
Coat of arms of British Interplanetary Society
|
- Notes
- Granted 19 June 1986
[11]
- Crest
- Upon a helm with a wreath Argent and azure a demi horse Argent winged gorged with a laurel wreath and supporting between its hooves an astral crown Or.
- Escutcheon
- Azure a fess dancetty of two points conjoined to as many pallets between three mullets one in chief two in base Argent.
- Supporters
- On either side a winged lion regardant Or the compartment comprising clouds Proper.
- Motto
- 'From Imagination To Reality'
|
Logo
[
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]
In 2020, the British Interplanetary Society website was redesigned and updated with a new-look logo, with a streamlined sans-serif version of the original 'Stag' font and both the banner and medallion designs incorporating the BIS motto 'From Imagination To Reality'.
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
Further reading
[
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]
External links
[
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]
51°29′03″N
0°07′22″W
/
51.4843°N 0.1228°W
/
51.4843; -0.1228